Operator News
France – Joa buys Royal Casino in Mandelieu
By Phil - 22 January 2018
French casino operator Joa Group has strengthened its hand on the French Riviera by buying the Pulmann hotel in Mandelieu, Alpes-Maritimes, and adjoining gaming facility, the Royal Casino from Financière Royal Resort.
The Lyon group, the third biggest French casino group in terms of revenue, was preferred to the health investor, Vivalto, by the investment fund Royal Financial Resort, owner of the establishment. The
Laurent Lassiaz, Chairman of the Management Board of Joa, said he could confirm the purchase ‘pending authorisations necessary.’
Financière Royal Resort bought the casino from Lucien Barrière in November 2006 who acquired it as part of its merger with the Accor Group its casinos with those of the Accor group.
During the 2016 to 2017 financial year, the casino generated GGR of €17.6m, representing a decline of 0.68 per cent on the previous year’s results leaving it in 31st position out of 200 French casinos. Whilst slot GGr has declined, results on the traditional table games have increased by almost 23 per cent. When it was bought in 2006, the casino’s GGR for 2005 to 2006 was €27,667,696m.
The Royal Casino operates 200 slot machines, an electronic English roulette table and more than a dozen traditional gaming tables. The hotel has 213 rooms, a restaurant, a disco, a swimming pool with direct access to a private beach.
Hotels are not Joa’s speciality but it does operate two small, 3 star hotels in Luxeuil-les-Bains and 42 rooms in Saint-Paul les Dax. This is Joa’s 23rd, casino. On the French Riviera, it operates La Siesta casino in Antibes in the region of Alpes-Maritimes with La Siesta, which stands in 26th position in the French league of top-earning casinos and further west, in the Var, it runs the La Seyne-sur-Mer casino. Its other Mediterranean casinos are located next to the Spanish border, in Pyrénées-Orientales, Canet-Plage, Saint-Cyprien and Argelès-sur-Mer.
